Novel
Kristin Lavransdatter
Sigrid Undset · 1922
Synopsis
In fourteenth-century Norway, Kristin grows up in the Gudbrandsdal, the much-loved daughter of Lavrans, a wealthy and respected farmer. Betrothed to Simon Darre, she is sent to the convent of Nonneseter, in Oslo, where she meets Erlend Nikulaussøn, an attractive and impetuous nobleman said to have been excommunicated. She defies her parents to follow him, and the trilogy then accompanies her through her life as a wife and mother of seven sons, while Erlend seeks to carry weight in the affairs of the kingdom.
Context
The three volumes appeared from 1920 to 1922 under the titles Kransen, Husfrue and Korset. In 1928, the Nobel jury honoured the author principally for her powerful descriptions of Nordic life in the Middle Ages, and the prize is mainly attributed to this trilogy, whose accuracy is stressed, far from romantic images of the Middle Ages. In English, Tiina Nunnally's translation, published by Penguin from 1997 to 2000, has taken the place of Charles Archer's.
Who it is for
Three volumes, translated into French under the title Christine Lavransdatter: a long fresco that follows the heroine from her youth to maturity.
Prizes and reception
Britannica regards it as a masterpiece of Norwegian literature; Liv Ullmann filmed its first volume in 1995.
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